I walked through the sea of faces, addressing people as I passed them. “Aidan’s spent years wanting his memories back and I imagine there’s been a lot of anger built up over that loss, especially with Connor back in his life. And what about the members of your council? Sure, you can trust them, the way the gang at the Peach Pit trusted each other on 90210, but you see how that turned out every week. Not everyone sees eye to eye here.”
“Impossible,” the tall blond named Gerard said, stepping forward. “You know nothing of our kind. Brandon’s word is law.”
“But I do know your kind,” I said. “Despite what I hear you people claim over and over, you’re still human. You come from us. You can’t help it. It’s not a virus you can work out of your system, and even if you could, what do I see you people do with your downtime? You absorb human culture-with the movies you watch, the building you construct to hide yourselves. And you, Gerard, you’re as hotheaded as this human vampire hunter I know… Remember how you broke my bat?”
I moved on. When I came to Nicholas he couldn’t bear to make eye contact with me, looking away. “And Nicholas, well, let’s just say he’s got some relationship issues a century or two of analysis might cure…”
Aidan sighed. “Is there a point to all this?”
“The point is this,” I said. “Somewhere in your ranks, there has to be someone who is terribly unhappy with their lot in the vampiric life.”
Beatriz laughed and sidled over to Aidan, throwing her arm around him. “Did you come up with that all by yourself?”
I gave her a placating smile. “I did.”
“Forgive me,” Brandon said, “but I fail to see how that is supposed to help us. Other than taking my ego down a notch to hear about some of the unrest of my people.”
“You’re right,” I said. “That alone really doesn’t amount to anything. There’s been all the problems trying to help you out with achieving the peace you want, the right to be left alone. Hell, I’ve risked my entire career trying to do the right thing by you… by Connor and Aidan, by Jane… only to be constantly stumped by someone covering their tracks all too well.”
Jane walked over to me. “Brandon was filling me in on the prophecy,” she said. “I’ve had a little experience from reading up on them in my dealing with the Black Stacks at Tome, Sweet Tome. Like most prophecies, this one is as cryptic as the next, but to overcompensate for that, someone still tried to cover all the bases. They went out of their way to try and take care of anyone who might remotely be involved in it.”
“Like who?” Brandon asked.
“Me, for one,” Jane said. “Your building ate me. That wasn’t by accident. When I was trapped in there, I found traces of traps laid for me. Whoever did it covered it up well, but the building was waiting to contend with a technomancer.”
Nicholas stepped forward. “Just to be clear, I never programmed something like that.”
“And don’t forget when Simon and I were attacked by those ferals,” Jane said. “Not only did it try to ruin Taco Night, but someone set that thing loose on us.”
“And then they used them a second time en masse to try and get rid of me right here on the castle grounds,” I said. “They even tried to dissuade Connor months ago from seeking out Aidan by sending that threatening letter to him.”
“Were they trying to draw me out?” Connor asked. “Or were they hoping to start the war early between our two worlds?”
“I’m not sure,” I said, “but again, they’ve covered their tracks well. My power can’t break through any of it.”
Brandon stood in silence, the lack of human traits such as respiration making him seem statuelike. “So it is to be war, then, between our two sides.”
I held my hands up. “I don’t think we have to jump straight on the blood-running-in-the-streets bandwagon just yet.”
“Then what would you have?” Brandon said, a snarl in his words.
“Frankly, I’d like some answers,” I said, “and I think I know how to get them.”
Everyone in the room fell silent and still, not just the ones who were already dead. I walked over to the fireplace and looked up at the painting above it, Brandon’s lost Damaris. “I got the idea thinking about you, actually.”
“Me?” Brandon asked.
I turned to look at him, nodding. “After I saw the man you used to be and the changed man I know now, I realized how important family is. There’s a strength in family. I’ve seen it in Connor, bringing him back from the edge of madness by getting to know his brother.” I walked over to Jane and took both her hands. “And I have family, too.”
Jane smiled, but leaned close and whispered through it. “That’s sweet, but how does that help us?”
“We can use our powers together,” I said. I looked at all the faces in the room. “Someone in here is responsible for all this chaos. I was able to read Perry down in the labs without much harm to myself because he’s not a living creature. Neither is anyone in this room, technically speaking.” I turned to address the gathered crowd. “So it’s simple. No one’s leaving this room until I read them with an assist from Jane.”
Jane looked uncertain, one of her eyebrows raised. “You sure that’s going to work?”
“Nope,” I said, “but we can try. As I psychometrically read all the vampires, we can link your technomancy to the traces you’ve found in the building systems, hopefully amplifying both our powers over those of the saboteur covering their tracks. Brandon, I’m assuming your little movie-watching room here hooks into the building’s systems?”
He nodded.
“Great,” I said, grabbing three chairs and arranging them by all the home-theater setup. “One for Jane, one for me, and one for our rotating guest of honor.” I looked out across the sea of faces. “Who’s up first?”
No one moved. “Anybody?” I asked.
The vampire Gerard stepped forward. He stared into my eyes, hate rolling off him in a wave. “I will not be subjected to this,” he said.
Brandon stepped in front of him. “You will,” he said. He looked around the room. “You all will.” He stared Gerard down in a contest of wills until the blond vampire turned away and rejoined the group without another word. Brandon looked at his people all around the room. “Only the guilty party need worry themselves. No one is leaving and no one is exempt. Are we clear?”
Brandon was met with silence. Whether it was in cooperation or not, I didn’t know, so I continued.
“Great,” I said. “Who’s first?”
There was another pause of deafening silence while I waited for someone to take action. It was Beatriz who raised her hand and sauntered forward after uncoiling herself from Aidan. “Let’s get this out of the way,” she said.
“I’ve got an unlife I have to get back to.”
“You’re cool with this?” Aidan called out.
“If it’s going to stop all this uncomfortable silence,” she said, spinning around and blowing him a kiss. “Yes.”
“Great,” I said, offering her my hand. “If you’ll just sit down here…”
Beatriz’s hand closed on mine, but she didn’t sit. I wasn’t sure what happened exactly. All I knew was that I was in motion and no longer in Brandon’s chambers.
31
My arm felt sore, and why shouldn’t it? It wasn’t every day that a vampire nearly ripped it out of its socket as she blurred off to her top speed. At least, that was what I thought was happening. The wind whipped into my eyes and I had to close them, missing much of what was passing by me at an inhuman speed. When Beatriz finally stopped, I was thrown to the floor as something slammed shut with a loud click, but what, I didn’t know. I opened my eyes to find myself in a long rectangular room with little in the way of light in it.